I've been working in secret with David Berglas for the past year on what will be a book devoted entirely to his card magic. Half a dozen trips to England later, I'm well on the way with writing the text and can promise you a genuinely miraculous book that will, in turn, teach you how to perform miracles.

The Mind and Magic of David Berglas, the superb book written by David Britland and published by Jim Steinmeyer, covered so much of David's life and magic that only a small portion could be devoted to his card magic. The new book will greatly expand upon the material covered there, along with much previously unpublished material.

I expect the book, which will also contain a DVD, a CD-Rom, and a pair of 3D glasses, to be published by summer of 2010 in time for David's 85th birthday. Dodd Vicker's is about to post an interview with David on the Magic Newswire--make sure you click on over there as soon as Dodd posts the link.

Meanwhile, speaking of Mr. Steinmeyer, his new book, Technique and Understanding, contains some of the most amazing secrets I've ever encountered in a magic book. I'll no doubt never attempt to build some of the illusions, but I feel privileged just to know how some of this stuff works. Simply thrilling material.

You're right, Richard. Berglas handles cards in a way I've not seen before. His think-a-card routines are terribly baffling. He and I spent several memorable late-night sessions, and I've concluded that there is no end to this man's genius.

I speak for many when I thank you for the effort, expenditure and heart you put into publishing. It is, as mentioned in another thread regarding "magazines", a complex and often thankless task. Looking forward to the Berglas book (and the DeLand one as well!). Thanks so much...

My chat with "International Man of Mystery" David Berglas is now online! We talk about everything from working on several Bond films to entertaining Winston Churchill & the Royal Family of England. Enjoy!

enjoyed the chat with David Berglas very much.. i'd urge everyone to listen to anything David ever says.. his words, however informal or conversational are always full of gems and enlightened thinking.. and theres some really great comments in the podcast!!

Just listened to Berglas's interview on The Magic Newswire. Excellent thoughts, memories and comments, and at the end he discusses for just a short bit the book. The interview really got me looking forward to this.

Steve Cohen wrote:You're right, Richard. Berglas handles cards in a way I've not seen before. His think-a-card routines are terribly baffling. He and I spent several memorable late-night sessions, and I've concluded that there is no end to this man's genius.

Indeed. I have also concluded the same after several late night sessions.

David Britland had the extremely difficult task of encompassing Berglas's entire career in one book. An almost impossible task, yet he succeeded admirably.

Britland's card section is not that long, but the language is very dense and rich.

I have the luxury of an entire book to devote to the card magic and David Berglas's manner of working is antithetical to the type of nuts and bolts descriptions I normally write. However, I have discovered a way that suits us. It makes you aware of the dynamism and free flow of the card work, but also gives you the nuts and bolts to go down that road. Once you're on the road, you have to just start doing the material and learning it yourself.

I'll be giving you all the tools and teaching you how to use them, but you'll have to build your own boat. You'll understand when you read the book.

David himself wrote a great little book years ago. I forget what the hell it was called. It seems to have vanished into oblivion which is a shame. Very slick paper and well printed.

All I remember about the old Berglas book was very good illustrations and he also explained how you tie a knot in a tie with one hand. The other thing that was quite amusing was a stunt he recommended when a group in an audience were not paying attention to you. You flip a ball of flaming flash paper over their head and when they look back at you look terribly innocent and the audience laughs.

David gave me his cigarette routine for the Genii issue, but we ran long and I couldn't include it. It won't fit in this book, because it's entirely devoted to card magic. I may publish it in Genii at some point.

I can actually do David's cigarette trick. In my opinion it is his greatest trick. Far better than that silly card and number thing that magicians rave about for some unknown reason. It is just another card trick after all.

I saw David do it in a very large theatre in London. It was the Victoria Palace. Yep. A small tricks with cigarettes could be seen in the largest theatre. Skilled lighting was used and it worked well. I even remember bits of the patter and it was nearly 50 years ago. He said "If I rub my hand once a cigarette appears. (and it did) If I rub my hand twice two cigarettes appear" (and they did) It was an absolute masterpiece and Ken Brooke told me that it was the trick that made David famous on British television. He did it with his sleeves rolled up.

Many years later he did it again on British TV but it was a pale shadow of its former self. I got the impression that he hadn't done it for years. I know he is known as a mentalist but I always preferred his magic and pickpocketing. He did have some wonderful blindfold work and a some of his mentalism was fine but there were occasions he got a bit too complicated with it and that can lead to boredom.

I once was booked at a regular gig in Ireland to do children's shows. The same kids were there week after week so I eventually ran out of material. So in desperation I decided to do the cigarette trick even though cigarette tricks are a no-no to perform for children. To my amazement the reaction was fantastic. The kids kept laughing and gasping when all the cigarettes appeared one at a time.

I am now inclined to do the trick with miniture magic wands instead when I do the item for children.